Perchance to Dream

Shadow figures from depths below,

Clawing at me with blades so slow.

Teeth grinding, whispers of fear,

Echoes in shade, drawing near.

Lost in a maze, no escape,

Bound by horrors draped shape.

Lush gardens where hopes renew,

Bright with moss, this my view.

River flows with unbridled call,

Hoping to take, hoping to stall.

Guiding through dreams reprieve,

This place creates for us to believe.

Soft shade drift in tranquil haze,

Some matte gray in this place.

In this space, no fear or cheer,

Just the still calm, nothing clear.

This void where time is still,

A chance to dream, without frill.

With each dawn echoes stay,

Sunlight waking, this is the day.

Reality bends to shapes anew,

By the dream we once knew.

Memories bend to dreams cast,

In dream lights grasp, hold fast.

Portrait of the mind takes shape,

Bewitched promise with escape.

Dusk with dawn begins to entwine,

Weaving through soul’s design.

Fragments of the world unseen,

Creating truths, perchance to dream.

© Dereck Pritchard, 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Okay to share in full with clear credit to the author. Partial excerpts require written permission.

Beneath the Pale Moon

Dark skies swell with restless crows,

the pale moon rests like a coin on velvet,

stars lean close, murmuring in cold light.

Shadows stretch thin across the earth,

under the moon’s steady, unblinking eye.

I walk the road, chasing something unnamed.

Reflections rise from half-lost years,

voices tangled in the midnight wind.

Thoughts drift like brittle leaves down an empty street.

Dreams catch on threads of faint silver,

the air grown heavy with a quiet glow,

guided by constellations I can’t name.

In the dark sky, the moon keeps vigil,

casting light on the things I still dare to want.

By night’s end, my chest loosens,

the moon caught in the branches, keeping still.

© Dereck Pritchard, 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Okay to share in full with clear credit to the author.
Partial excerpts require written permission.